896 



FdREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 4, 1898. 



The "Double Cat" Boat Squlnx. 



Thb term "double cat" is not known in the East, but is peculiar to 

 the lakes in the vicinity of Detroit, Mich., the rig itself being that of 

 the noted "Mackinaw" boats. Just as the familiar "cat yawl" of the 

 Eastern coast is a yawl without a jib, in the same way the "double 

 cat" is a ketch, the after sail being proportionately larger than the 

 cat yawrs mizen, and stepped further forward. The rig is much used 

 on the rough waters of the lakes. 



Squinx, for whose lines we are indebted to the designer and owner, 

 Mr. Richard P. Joy, of Detroit, Mich., was designed for use on Lake 

 St. Clair, where shoal draft and seagoing qualities are equally essen- 

 tial, and in this season's use she has proved very successful, being 

 both fast and able, while her rig is very simple and easily handled. 



She was built by the Detroit Boat Works, and is well put together; 

 the keel, frames, sheerstrake and planksheer being of oak. The 

 frames are spaced 8in., and the planking is double, an inner skin of 

 J^in. white cedar, laid diagonally, with an outer of J^in. cedar laid fore 

 and aft. The deck and bulkheads are of mahogany. The hull is 

 divided into five watertight compartments by the three transverse bulk- 

 beads and the centerboard trunk. 



The method of hanging the centerboard is similar to that used in 

 canoes, and was devised by Mr Fred Ballin, manager of the Detroit 

 Boat Works. The centerboard is of J^in. iron, and to avoid any dam- 

 age through the breaking of the pendant, space is left at the fore end 

 of the trunk, so that the board may drop to a vertical position without 

 straining the pin. The board and pin may be readily lifted out at any 

 time. The dimensions of the boat are as follows: 



"double cat" squiNx— dimensions. 



Length over all 24ft. Tin. 



l.w.l aift. 



Beam, extreme 6ft. 6in. 



I-w.l 5ffc. lOJ^in. 



Draft without board 2ft. 



bow.. ]' ift. 



Sheer, stern 43^in. 



Least freeboard 1ft. 4]4in. 



Ballast, iron, keel lOOOlbs. 



inside lOOOlbs. 



Total 20001bs. 



Foresail 243sq. ft. 



Mainsail 123sq. ft. 



Total 866sq. ft. 



The wave lines shown in the smaller drawing are the results of 

 careful study during experiments conducted in the summer of 1893 in 

 actual sailing and are only formed, as shown, when the boat is on an 

 even keel before the wind. 



The wave lines in the drawing are of the most extreme type, being 

 formed at a very high rate of speed— for a small boat-in shallow 

 water, but the same results are achieved, only to a less extent, in 

 deep water. 



The>rrows show the motion of the water; jus*-, under the bows the 



CENTERBOARD. 



water is given a forward motion and the waves of displacement, or 

 bow waves, are thrown off, leaving a hollow for the middle body to 

 travel m, causing the boat to settle deeper in the water by the change 

 m the vvaterlines, although the displacement must remain the same. 

 If the boat's bow be very bluff, and the bow waves thrown off exces- 

 sive, the hollow in which travels the middle body will be greater 

 causing the boat to settle still deeper in the water, with higher wave 

 of replacement. 



From the wave of displacemet the water appears to pass under- 

 neath the boat, on her diagonals, with a strong current toward the 

 stern, racreasing the skin friction of the middle body, and forms the 

 wave of replacement, or stern wave. If in very shallow water this 

 wave will break, forming a comber from six to ten feet long on either 

 counter. 



It is apparent that although the displacement must always remain 

 the same, the waterline has become much longer and more narrow 

 giving the boat a greater tendency to roll. 



Concerning the boat's performance in heavy weather her owner 

 writes: 



"Since writing you last I have been through a 40-mile gale with 

 Squinx, having been caught out in the storm of Sept. 16, which did 

 much damage to our lake shipping. I was obliged to beat to wind- 

 ward 12 miles m the teeth of the gale and in a terrible sea, to reach a 

 harbor. I had three reefs and then had too much sail, but the boat 

 worked to perfection and handled perfectly. I can truly say that the 

 double cat is as weatherly a boat as I have ever sailed in an experi- 

 ence covering all kinds of craft on salt and fresh water." 



"Canoe and Boat Building for Amateurs." 



The following letter was not intended for publication, but we trust 

 that the writer will pardon the liberty we take in laying it before our 

 readers, as such an unsolicited testimonial to the merits of the de- 

 sign mentioned, and also of the book as a whole, cannot fail to be 

 gratifying to us. The letter is dated from Victoria, AustraUa: 

 W. P. Stephens, Esq. 



About eighteen months ago I thought I would try to build a boat. 

 As I had no experience at that sort of work I looked about for a book 

 on the subject and in Melbourne I found two books, — and also your 

 "Canoe and Boat Building for Amateurs." I have found the latter 

 book invaluable, and must thank you for producing such a work. 



I may say my business is sheep-farming, and I have had no training 

 i n the use of tools, but carpentry is a favorite pastime of mine. 



With the assistance of a friend I built your canoe Raritania, choos- 

 ing this design as being most suitable for our river, theGlenelg, which 

 is quite unsuitable for sailing, beingcarrow and winding in our locality ; 

 a chain of water holes in summer, but subject to floods in the winter. 



I built the Raritania from your instructions and dimensions, and 

 met with no insurmountable obstacles. I could not procure the tim- 

 ber you suggest, but made the keel, ttem and stern pieces of American 

 ash; skin, decks and coaming of kauri pine, ribs of hickory and kauri 

 Dine, and deck beams, etc., from a piece of inch flooring board Cpine). 

 I used rather heavier material than you suggest, as I wanted plenty of 

 strength The result surpassed my expectations, and my assistant 

 builder and I had a twenty days' fishing trip at the mouth of the 

 Glenelg, where there is a stretch of eighty miles of deep water teeming 

 with fish. The canoe carried the two of us with outfit and provisions 

 (for a week), about BOOlbs., and though down to the gunwale streak 

 never made a drop of water. 



Since then I have had several trips on the River Glenelg in flood 

 time, and I find the canoe can do anything. The river runs very fast 

 ra places, but the Raritania can go anywhere. Six months ago I built 

 a light canvas canoe, 10ft. 6in.x30in., weighing 561bs., and my mate 

 and I went down stream last flood forty miles, in four and a half 

 hours and then took matters easy, so you may imagine the current. 



I built the canvas canoe frame of kauri pine throughout, but put 

 no decking on, but instead have covers of American cloth buttonmg 

 on to studs on tlie gunwale. 



I put a mast and lateen sail on the Raritania and a few days ago put 

 on a temporary keel 3in. deep at the center and about 6ft. long, and 

 with it can go very close to the wind and carry more sail. I intend 

 some of these day days to tackle one of the centerboard canoes and 

 see what I can do to turn out a crack sailer. The Raritania cost me 

 complete under £4.10, or I suppose you would reckon about $23, 

 and I have had $5,000 worth of pleasure in building and using her. I 

 find the chief difliculty here in procuring suitable timber, as all I can 

 get is American ash from the local carriage builder, and flooring 

 boards, and Oregon and red pine, but the pine is so full of knots as to 

 be worthless. I had a great deal of trouble to find a piece of clear 

 pine and at last secured a saddler's signboard, the only piece I could 

 find. lean get any amount of kauri pine by ordering it from Mel- 

 bourne. It is a New Zealand wood and a beautiful wood to work, as 

 you can get it of any length and size you wish, and as clean as you 

 like. It is not often you find a knot in Kauri. I do not know how it 

 would compare with your woods for planking canoes, but I got on the 

 skin without steaming or boiling. Kauri is very durable. I have a 

 frame of the horseworks for a chaff cutter of kauri exposed to the 

 weather for 15 years and partly buried in the ground, and not more 



SQUINX— DOUBLE CAT.— DESIGNED by BiCHARD P. Jot, 1893. 



